Celtic rockers The Tossers at North Star Bar

While there are hundreds of Celtic rock bands in Ireland and other parts of the U.K., there are only a handful of American Celtic rock bands that have become national acts.

On the East Coast, there is Boston’s Dropkick Murphys. On the West Coast, there is L.A.’s Flogging Molly. In between, there is Chicago’s favorite Celtic rock group -- The Tossers.

Like any good Celtic rock band, the month of March is a busy time for The Tossers -- a time when the band hits the road for a series of shows to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. One of those shows will take place on March 10 at the North Star in Philadelphia.

They recorded their debut album “The Pint of No Return” in 1994 and released nine more albums through 2008. Their new album “The Emerald City” was just released March 5.

“We just recorded the album,” said Tony Duggins, during a phone interview. “It’s fresh out of the box. We finished it in early January after working on it for three years. We took our time with it.”

Produced and recorded by Andy Gerber at Million Yen Studios in Chicago, “The Emerald City” has 14 tunes that keep the Irish Spirit alive -- especially with instruments such as banjo, tin whistle and fiddle.

The album is billed as “a patriotic homage to The Tossers’ home country as well as the South Side of Chicago.” Duggins sings about family, heritage and drunken times with friends while emphasizing the importance of enjoying life to its fullest. It even includes a track called “St. Patrick’s Day.”

“Usually, I pretty much write the whole thing -- always have,” said Duggins. “I stay with a pretty basic Irish ballad structure. That is the core of all our music.

“My love of this music is because of the Pogues. I heard Irish music my whole life and never thought it was cool. Then, I heard the Pogues. I was around 15 and my friend gave me a record by the Pogues. I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard.

“About 20 years ago, me and Bones -- we started this band and began playing in bars. That’s why we started the band -- so we could play in bars and drink for free. After awhile, we started playing festivals and our fan base kept growing steadily.”

The Tossers’ discography has also grown steadily.

“In our live shows, we go all the way back to ‘The Pint of No Return’,” said Duggins. “We have a lot of albums but we still play one or two songs from every record.”

The Tossers will perform on March 10 at 8 p.m. at the North Star (27th and Poplar streets, Philadelphia, 215-787-0488, www.northstarbar.com). Tickets are $12.